Halloween is different here than I expected. When I was growing up in Winnipeg, I expected to be able to go to every house and beg for candy. Here, I’m told, you can only go to the houses that are decorated. You actually need to advertise that you are giving out candy.
At about 8:30 you also start to see what I call “Factory Farms”: a car/truck disgorges a bunch of children who suck up as much candy as they can before returning to the vehicle to drive to the next house. We also saw a lighted golf cart hauling the kids around to get more candy without tiring themselves out.

Last week we went to Cozumel. It was sort of a last-minute plan. There is an annual meeting of friends, and we didn’t think we wanted to go this year, but a month before we changed our minds. We went and bought the tickets. We were better prepared this year than the last; having not just moved made things considerably easier.
The first thing that happened when we arrived was that Catalina discovered she had left her sunglasses in the taxi. She was in a low blood-sugar state, so this was a major crisis. Thankfully I had brought an extra pair so she used those. Also she was able to get some food into her system. By the end of the week, after obtaining new sunglasses, she still preferred my pair of sunglasses. I do think they looked better on her than her usual ones; more sporty.
After eating a bit, we proceeded to jump into the ocean. We weren’t wasting time. It was different for me this year; last year I didn’t have my snorkel equipment, this year I did. Wow. What a difference that makes! As soon as I was in the water, there were fish everywhere. Not a great variety, but lots of them. Interestingly, when we went swimming in a direction, we wouldn’t see as many fish; until we stopped and looked behind us: they were following us.
Later on in the week, we learned that the lifeguard on duty would actually take chips or pitas into the ocean with him. Another person suggested loading the chips into an empty water bottle and use that to control how much you give out. So that introduced us to feeding frenzies. The fish never seemed to have a fear of us, and when food was added into the mix, they got right into our faces to get it.
I think these “wild” animals have become habituated to humans.
On Tuesday we had plans to do our own thing, separate from our friends. It started initially with a plan to run into town. As the day went along, and it got hotter, it was modified to walking into town. By the time we actually left, it had become bicycling into town (the hotel had bikes we could borrow.) We went along the promenade and passed through the tourist areas. We hit the equivalent of Walmart to buy the aforementioned sunglasses; unfortunately I didn’t get to go in because one of us had to stay outside to guard the bikes.
We went a bit farther, but across the street from a grocery store there was a nice coconut lying on the street. We promptly claimed it. When we were heading back, we passed a palm tree that was filled with coconuts and looked climbable. We were able to pick three from it. (It was in front of a bank, so technically we have robbed a bank.) Once we got our stash back to the hotel we were able to get the bartender to cut them open and we got fresh coconut water.
After that, I think the hotel got the idea that people wanted coconuts, so they brought in more for other people to drink. It was a lot easier than going out to collect them ourselves.
All in all, it was a good trip. We stayed up late, past midnight, every night. We were with friends and we were all having a good time. There were fun things to do almost always. Unfortunately staying up late didn’t mesh well with my early morning runs (I have to get my run in before it gets too hot.) So I had to accept caffeine via Coca-cola, into my life to be able to function. I may have precipitated a caffeine addiction though, because since I’ve been back, I’ve been tired almost all the time.
The vacation did end on a poor note. A few hours after returning to Houston, Catalina started to feel sick to her stomach. For a couple of days, she had GI issues and was aching all over. We initially suspected the tacos she had eaten at the airport, but we later heard that a number of people had gotten sick at the resort; we were lucky it hit her a day later than everyone else. But it was better to be sick at the end of the vacation than at the start.

I’m not 100% sure the reason, but there was a neighborhood event tonight. It was called “National Night Out”. I saw a sign advertising it yesterday. This morning the radio was talking about it. I think it is a chance to get to know your neighbours and/or your law enforcement. Honestly, I didn’t care. I stopped listening after I saw that “Frosted Betty dessert truck” would be there.
I dragged my wife out to the park where it was happening and we bee-lined to the dessert truck. It was her birthday, but she was very supportive of my dessert needs. I was able to get a brownie and she got a cupcake. And then we discovered we could get multiple. Thankfully, my wife doesn’t like sweet things, so I now have desserts ready for the rest of the week.
The local constables were there, showing off their cars with flashing lights. We talked to them a bit. One of them had been in the army for 14 years and he looked very intense.
The highlight of the whole evening though were the dogs. Apparently they had found two stray dogs wandering about. So they had put them in the back seat of their car as they tried to find their owners. The windows were open, but there were bars preventing them from escaping. So everyone was lining up to pet and give ear-scratches to these friendly dogs. I think the constables were a little jealous of all the attention the dogs were getting.